“Just breathe in, breathe out” was what I told myself that day “You can do this,” except I didn't believe myself. My stomach was in knots, my breathing was uncontrollable. I felt like I was going to puke or poop my insides out, or possibly both. My teammates and I were waiting for the game ahead of us to be done, as it was one hour behind schedule. I kept picking at my thumb, a nervous habit I have always had. I am only a freshman, how am I supposed to win a State Championship? 

The game ahead of us finally ended. My hands were so sweaty they felt like I didn't dry off my hands after washing them. As we stepped onto the court, I looked all around me. The ceilings were so high, almost like the Eiffel Tower. Our student section was already full, my classmates, my family, my friends, and scouts were all sitting in the 10,000 seats in the Xcel Energy Center. The sight amazed me and only made my hands sweat more. How was I supposed to set with my hands lathered in fret? 

Warmups went by in a blur, the first set starting before I knew it. I stood behind the line, talking with one of my teammates. “I never needed to puke more,” I joked with a smile, except a part of me was about to puke right on the court. The other team looked tall, big, and fast. Big warriors dressed in white and red. The lineups were checked and the ball was tossed to me as I headed behind the serving line. This would have to be an aggressive, fast, and low serve. I made it over by the grace of god, but it came over just as fast. It was a ball hit right to me, I got low and ready, but I still shank the ball and it goes off in the other direction. My stomach dropped. I felt disappointed in myself. But I knew I had to shake off the error in order to keep going because there is still a lot of game left to go. I needed to redeem myself.

We battled to win the last point of the set. It was tough and mentally challenging but we still came through. As we switched sides all my nerves were gone. I was still sweaty, but this is a good type of sweat. I had a smile plastered on my face as one of my teammates said “Guys, play like that again, and we can do this.” I believed her. We played some of the best ball together. I have never felt like a better volleyball player. I worked hard all around the court, hustling to every ball. I then looked into the crowd and my mom was staring at me. She gave me a smile and a little wave, I had hope we could win the State Championship.

The second set went by fast with a win, and so did most of the third set. But we weren't done yet. We had one remaining point to win. My teammate went back to the service line. I looked at her and nodded “Just over and in Kars”. My teammates on the court looked around at each other, they called the sets that they wanted, the ones they were confident in. “Breathe in, Breathe out,” I told myself. She served the ball over and in and the play started. The blue and white ball floated to their libero. She got a pass right up to the middle of the court. I looked intensely at the setter as she ran to the ball. We watched her hands, where would she set the ball? As soon as the ball traveled over the outside, we all called it “Outside, Outside!” every one of us yelled. Everyone got to their defensive positions, ready for an outside hit. The blockers got ready to jump, everyone else is down, stopped, and ready. Where would the ball go to? 

The set was a little inside, the blockers moved to the left and jumped. We all held our breaths, even on the court. My stomach was in knots, my sweat was dripping onto the court. I was very ansty, my foot wanted to move somewhere else, but I knew better. The hit was off-speed, it would come to me. But our right-side blocker was so tall, I lost track of the ball. It was nowhere to be seen. But I saw the flash of blue and white as it landed on the other side of the court. Ace Block. We won the point. Not even 9 seconds went by and we had won the State Championship. We bolted towards each other, tears and sweat running down our faces. We had never worked so hard for a moment and it had finally paid off. This whole season we trained through sweat and tears, wanting the crowd to be screaming for The Bombers. We hugged each other as tight as we could, all on the ground, our mouths agape. The only thing I remember hearing was “We did it, we did it”. I don't know if it was in my head or if someone was saying it, but either way, I finally believed it.

We stood in our lines, ready to collect our first-place medals. I finally let out a breath of fresh air that was trapped below my anxiety. I hugged my teammates and coaches, tears blurring my vision. I then felt ashamed. Why didn't I believe in myself? Why did I think I could accomplish this? I then vowed to always believe in myself. I can accomplish anything and everything, I just have to believe and trust myself in any situation. After that day before every match, I remind myself of this moment. I look back and reflect on it, don't doubt myself, I can always do the impossible if I put my mind to it.